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Patented May 28, 1882.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

EDWIN E. REED, OF WILLIAMSTOWN, MICHIGAN, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO LEONARD M. SIMONS, OF SAME PLACE.

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SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 258,316, dated May 23, 1882. Application filed February 17, 1882. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EDWIN E. REED, of Williamstown, in the county of Ingham and State of Michigan, have invented new and useful Improvements in Boots; and I hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and ex- .act description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, which form apart of this specification.

The nature of this invention relates to certain new and useful improvements in the construction of boots, and has for its object the stiffening of the boot-leg and counter, so as to prevent the boot from running over and the leg from wrinkling, as occurs in the ordinary construction; and the invention consists in the peculiar application of a springwire to the boot leg and heel, all as more fully Figure 1 is a sideelevation of a boot provided with my improvement. Fig. 2 is a vertical section through the leg-seams, and Fig. 3 a cross-section on line a; 00 of Fig. 1.

In the accompanying drawings, which form a part of this specification, A represents a boot which is built up in the ordinary way, with the exception that, instead of the welt being formed from or in a single strip, the welt in this boot is formed in the shape of a loop-welt, extendin g the entire length of the teen": After the boot has been completed-and provided with this loop-welt I make an incision at the extreme lower edge of the welt, immediately abovetheheehin whichIintrodnce the springwire B, which 1 then,by means of proper pinchers, push down through holes made through the heel until the lower end of the wire projects below the face of the heel. I then crook or hook this end of the wire and drive it back into the heel,which firmly clinches itand holds it in place, as is clearly shown in Fig. 2, while the upper end of the loop-welt may be filled with a leather filling, or it may be sewed to gether. If desired, another lift may be put upon the heel, so as to cover up the clinched 5 end of the wire, although this is not necessary.

If desired, the boot may be constructed with the ordinary welt, or have a loop constructed upon the inside of the leg-seam, and have the wire project down through the heel and insole, and thence into the heel, although I do not consider this construction as good as the one just described; and again, the wire may be provided with a flat head, which would necessi tate the wire being pushed through the heel and thence into its loop, and it would also require in that instance the extra outer lift upon the heel.

By this construction I make a boot the leg of which will retain its original straight position at all times, while the wire has sufficient spring to allow of all the movements of the ankle of the wearer.

It will be observed that in my device the leg-seam reaches farther back thanin ordinary cases, so as to have it impinge upon the heel of the boot and accommodate the invention.

I am aware of Patent No. 33,195 of 186i, and I am aware that it is not new with me to stiffen boot-legswithsprings. Theimportantfeatures of my invention are to form the spring-socket or loop-welt and the leg-seams by the single row of stitching in each and to have the springs ends firmly embedded in the boot-heel.

What I claim as my invention, is-

A boot having the loop-welt formed in the leg-seam, as described, combined with a wire spring operating in said loop-welt and the lower end thereot'firmly embedded in the bootheel, as set forth.

, EDWIN E. REED.

Witnesses:

H. S. SPRAGUE, E. SoULLY. 

